Hue Vietnam

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Hue is the 3rd largest city in Vietnam. Our hotel Ngoc Huong, was quite posh. On the top floor there was a pool overlooking the whole city which was nice for escaping the heat. Our first stop in Hue was the Tien Mu Pagoda and temple which gained worldwide attention when a monk pulled up in an Austin car in 1963, covered himself in gasoline, sat in front of the temple in a yogi pose and lit himself on fire. We were told that he was protesting the political actions of South Vietnam (the democratic side). In Vietnam you can not talk badly of the government publicly. If you are caught, you go straight to jail with no trial. Apparently this is also true in Thailand. The next temple we visited belonged to the longest serving emperor named Nguyen. It's called the Forbidden Purple City. The actual temple itself has been partly restored but there are parts of it where you can see the destruction from bombs and bullet holes. I learned that Emperor Nguyen had 103 wives and no children. There’s a lot of speculation as to why he had so many wives in addition to his concubines but no children. No one seems to be willing to say maybe it was him. I also learned that Ho Chi Minh never married and had no children. The people in Vietnam call him Uncle Ho. Again lots of speculation but no one seems to be willing to say maybe he was gay.
On the Road: We stopped at a military bunker on top of a hill with views in both directions. It was eerie to be there and imagine what it was like for the soldiers during the war. The place exuded trauma. As we walked down from the bunker we were aggressively approached by locals trying to sell food and crafts. The poverty of the people was intense. Our guide Pong told us about the children in Vietnam that were named “dust in the wind.” These are the half American half Vietnamese children who appeared 9 months after their American fathers passed through. Some were allowed to move to the United States if they could find their fathers but most could not. They had to stay and were treated very badly by the Vietnamese people.

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